Strange Phenomenon Under Africa Threatens To Flip Earth’s Magnetic Field

7 March 2018

 - Earth’s magnetic field is decaying at such a rapid rate that scientists think the poles may flip. New research shows the most significant weakening is happening under Africa, in an area called the ‘South Atlantic Anomaly.’

As well as giving us our north and south poles, the magnetic field blankets the Earth, protecting it from solar winds and cosmic radiation. Without it there would likely be no life on our planet today. However, the forcefield has weakened significantly in the past 160 years and scientists have suggested that it could be in the process of flipping. Effectively this means a switch in magnetic polarity and would see compasses point south instead of north.

Strangely, this has actually happened several times in the history of the planet, occurring roughly every 200,000 to 300,000 years. Approximately 40,000 years ago, it attempted to switch before snapping back into place.